Apple Cake w/ Walnut Cinnamon Crumble

Autumn has arrived and so has this decadent Apple Cake with a thick Walnut Crumble...
I’ve had a lot of Apple Cakes in my life but rarely made one with a crumble. Hence, this weekend when my brother and his family came over, I made an impromptu Apple Cake w/ Walnut Crumble. It was packed with sweet (not overly sweet) Pink Ladies apples, cinnamon – one of my favourite spices - and a soft moist vanilla cake.
The crumble consists of walnuts which works amazing with the flavour of the apples and cinnamon. But by all means use pecans, macadamia or almonds in your crumb. You can even keep the crumbs natural but I love the scent of cinnamon and gives the crumbs something extra.

A perfect fall treat and crowd pleaser!
This sweet fall cake is a perfect after dinner dessert and now that apples are in season it’s must to create an indulgent crumble. Serve it with a dollop of whip cream or a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and you know you’ll have a happy crowd!
Apple Cake w/ Walnut Cinnamon Crumble
- Prep: 15 min
- Total: 75 min
Vegetables
Ingredients
Crumble:
- 100 gr all-purpose flour
- 100 gr cane sugar
- 100 gr unsalted butter (cold) butter
- half a cup of chopped walnuts (pecans, macadamia or almonds will suffice too)
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- ½ tsp vanilla essence
- pinch of salt
Apple Filling:
- 4 Pink Ladies apples (chopped into pieces)
- 1 tbsp cane sugar
- 1 tbsp butter
- ½ tsp cinnamon powder
- a good squeeze of lemon juice (to prevent the apples from browning)
Cake:
- 200 gr all-purpose flour (2X sifted)
- 200 gr fine white sugar
- 200 gr unsalted butter (melted in pan)
- 4 XL eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla essence or 1 vanilla pod
- 24 x 24 cm square cake tin (10 inches)
- baking paper
- cake rack
Instructions
- Firstly, prepare your crumble by adding all these ingredients in a bowl and mixing them with your fingers. This way you can create bigger and smaller crumbles. When the crumble is ready place it in the fridge to chill.
- Brush the bottom and sides of your cake tin with butter and then line it with baking paper. Set this aside.
- Remove the skin and core of the apples and chop them into pieces. Squeeze a little bit of lemon juice over them and place them in a pan. Add the butter, sugar and cinnamon to the pan and let this heat up for about 2/3 minutes. Remove the apples from the pan and set this aside.
- Preheat your oven to 170 C or 338 F.
- In a bowl add your sugar and eggs and mix (I used a hand mixer) for about 5 minutes on a medium high speed until the batter becomes a fluffy and pale yellow mixture. Add the vanilla essence and butter slowly after 5 minutes and mix until the butter is fully incorporated. Turn off the mixer and add the sifted flour. Gently fold the batter with a wooden spoon until the flour is finished.
- Add the cake batter to the lined cake tin. Then divide the chopped apples over the cake (they will sink into the cake BUT do not worry) and finally place the crumble on top. Bake the cake for about 50 minutes. Check the cake with a skewer. If the skewer comes out clean the cake is cooked. Turn off the oven and let the cake sit for 3-5 minutes in the oven before you remove it and let it cool off on a cake rack.
TIP: serve this cake with a dollop of whip cream or vanilla ice-cream.
If you make my recipes please tag me in them and use #thespicedchickpearecipes. I'd love to see what you've made!